MLB Player News

Brogdon has been out since late June. He’ll return to a 2.04 ERA over 19 appearances.

Jax struck out three and walked one while throwing 59 pitches in this one. The former reliever showed off a six-pitch mix in this one, using five pitches at least 14 percent of the time. He threw plenty of strikes with his sinker and four-seamer and was able to use his changeup for whiffs against both righties and lefties. However, no other pitches really missed many bats, and he had just a 10 percent swinging strike rate. We’ll need to see a little more strikeout upside from Jax if he’s going to be relied on in fantasy leagues. He should be able to push to five innings next week against the Blue Jays, but we’d hold off on starting him for now.

The Astros already have an open spot on their active roster after optioning Jason Alexander to Triple-A following Wednesday’s ballgame. VanWey, 27, posted an underwhelming 5.74 ERA, 1.53 WHIP and a 19/6 K/BB ratio over 15 2/3 innings in his first 15 appearances out of the bullpen at Triple-A Sugar Land this season.

The big left-hander didn’t allow a single extra-base hit on the day. The second run he allowed came on a bunt single, and the third run he allowed came on a sacrifice fly. He then threw a scoreless third, fourth, and fifth innings before an infield single and a walk ended his night in the sixth, and he watched as one of those runners came around to score. Despite not allowing much hard contact, he also didn’t miss many bats with just a six percent swinging strike rate and one strikeout on the day. Provided Ranger Suarez (hamstring) doesn’t need a trip to the IL, we’d bet that Bennett will head back to Triple-A.

The 26-year-old southpaw was lifted from Thursday’s start against the Marlins in the third inning due to discomfort in his forearm. Even if there ends up being no structural damage, it seems likely that Povich is heading for a stint on the injured list. It’s yet another blow to an Orioles’ rotation that has been ravaged by injuries this season.

The 30-year-old outfielder elected free agency on Wednesday after refusing an outright assignment to Triple-A Sugar Land. He explored what’s out there on the market and ultimately decided that it makes the most sense to remain with the Astros. He’ll continue to function as extra depth at the Triple-A level.

Hicks now has nine home runs and 34 RBI in 35 games this season. Last year, he hit six home runs and knocked in 45 runs in 119 games. What the 26-year-old is doing this year is tremendous. By opening up his batting stance and looking to get the ball out in front more, Hicks has taken an elite contact approach and made it an elite contact approach with league-average hard contact and barrel rates. Given his ability to make high-level swing decisions, he is consistently in good positions to make meaningful contact. This breakout looks very real.

This is now Beavers’ fourth straight start and his seventh start in the Orioles’ last nine games. The results haven’t been tremendous; he’s 4-for-16 with two RBI, three runs scored, and a 4/4 K/BB ratio in his last six games. However, he is starting to play more often and showed decent power and speed in Triple-A last year, so fantasy managers should at least keep an eye on his results over the rest of the week before waivers.

On one hand, Meyer’s command wasn’t great in this one. He walked two hitters and threw just 59 percent of his pitches for strikes. On the other hand, he had a solid 13 percent CSW and racked up five strikeouts. Part of that was his extreme success in two-strike counts, converting almost 50 percent of them into strikeouts. That will happen sometimes when you have a slider like Meyer’s, but he won’t want to make a habit of it. The 27-year-old will now carry a 2.79 ERA into next week’s start against the Twins, and he’s entering auto-start territory at this point.

Povich threw 27 of his 43 pitches for strikes, so the command wasn’t an issue here, but he threw 75 percent fastballs, which is a good indication that something wasn’t feeling right when he was gripping or spinning other pitches. We’ll await word from the Orioles on the severity of the injury, but their pitching staff can’t afford another long-term absence.

Gelof smacked an RBI triple in the fifth inning that increased the A’s lead to 9-1. He then added the exclamation point to the blowout with a 389-foot (101.8 mph EV) two-run blast after a nine-pitch battle with Chase Shugart in the seventh. The dynamic 26-year-old has looked at least capable since returning from Triple-A, slashing .269/.309/.519 with three homers and 10 RBI.